If various versions of the athletic shoe have become perhaps the most dominant shoe on American sidewalks, why are two-thirds of Americans overweight? This makes our choice of footwear something of a lie.
We have no intention of actually being athletic. We just want to look all athleticky in shoes that appear to be going 90 m.p.h. while our guts just mosey along.
Some guys have shoes designed to look like flames are shooting out, yet the wearers never achieve a respectable amble.
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We need shoes that tell the truth about us and our activities, or lack thereof. Statistics back this up. At a time when the federal government is running some kind of fitness initiative called Healthy People 2010 (I assume that refers to the year and not the number of healthy people in this country), many Illinoisans actually regressed.
From 2001 through 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people in this state who met the minimal standards of Adult Participation in Recommended Levels of Physical Activity sagged almost 5 percent.
And maybe those are the latest years for which figures are available because the people gathering the statistics have become, well, less active.
So, not to boast or anything, but I now have clad my feet in truth, at the same time stepping into a new realm of coolness that will allow me bragging rights as a trend-setter, at least in the Midwest. Ta-da! At this moment I am the only person I know who wears Piloti Driving Shoes.
Yeah, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, band members from Linkin Park and Aerosmith and I all wear shoes bearing the name Piloti, Italian for race-car drivers.
I had never even heard of them until I happened across a mention of the California company while searching for Italian driving shoes. Having already bought a pair of driving shoes, I realized how in touch with the road a guy could feel with a thinner sole and rolled-up heel. There’s no need for a tachometer; you can “feel” the r.p.m.’s through your feet.
But once I found the Pilotis, my search ended. These were cool without the implied expectation of exercise. I mean, I do drive and often at high speed, so these shoes were functional and truthful. Plus, the design I liked best also happens to be fire-resistant, so if I’m ever in a fiery crash on the Kennedy–probably more possible than I think–my body may be charcoal, but my feet will be as cool as can be cradled in my Pilotis.
But if those don’t work for you, maybe look for sitting shoes. You could stand on your honesty and also get incredible tread wear.
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